The 4 Reasons Why 2017 Is a Tipping Point for Retail

When Warby Parker was founded in 2010, the pitch was simple: Don’t buy expensive designer eyeglasses in stores; buy cheaper ones on the internet.

It was a good pitch. It was also a financial necessity: The founders had no outside capital and it was far cheaper to build a national brand online than to open a dozen storefronts in malls across the country with debt. But as Warby Parker grew to become a darling of online retail, the founders had a funny idea. Maybe they should undisrupt the brick-and-mortar industry by opening a store or two.

Within a year, there were eight Warby Parker brick-and-mortar locations nationwide. They weren’t just turning a profit. They were averaging $3,000 a square foot annually, higher than Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, and practically every company not named Apple. By the end of this year, the company will have about 80 storefronts.

So, is Warby Parker still an “online retailer”? Obviously, no: of its sales now PBS, “about 75 percent of our customers that shop in our stores have been to our website first.”